Structure and thermodynamic modelling of Pluronic L64 solutions

Abstract

The aim of the present work is to model structure and thermodynamic properties of Pluronic L64 solutions (triblock copolymer with hydrophilic ends and a hydrophobic middle). We first determined the micelle size by dynamic light scattering at various temperatures. This helps to understand the particle formation mechanism in solution and the interparticle interactions by following the virial coefficient as well as its temperature dependence. Two semi-empirical intermolecular potentials were tested to predict sample properties. First, we used a pure Lennard-Jones pair potential and then we introduced the Lu and Marlow (LM) contribution in its repulsive part. All quantities of interest were computed using the integral equation scheme with hybridized mean spherical approximation. We found that the LM contribution corrects structure and thermodynamic properties of the system by taking into account the effect of particle size.